Product Description

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It's Sergio Leone meets Sam Peckinpah meets Quentin Tarantino in this ultraviolent, mythological shoot-'em-up by auteur Robert Rodriguez. In Desperado, Rodriguez creates larger-than-life, genre-tweaking stock characters and puts them through their paces. As they stride bravely through an Old West lightly dusted with camp humor, they're periodically called upon to nimbly dodge bullets and fireballs through outrageously choreographed displays of Hollywood pyrotechnics. In this bigger-budget semi-remake/semi-sequel to Rodriguez's indie sensation, El Mariachi (made, famously, for $7,000), Antonio Banderas is the darkly charismatic El Mariachi, the Mysterious Stranger in town; Steve Buscemi is perfectly cast as his weasely, motor-mouth Comic Sidekick, laying the groundwork for El Mariachi's entrance by spinning saloon stories to build up his legend; Cheech Marin is a standout as the Bartender, who really knows how to handle a toothpick; and gorgeous Salma Hayek is, well, the Girl--treated to the kind of full-blown, slow-mo introduction the movies traditionally lavish on beautiful new stars. It doesn't add up to much, but it's a kick. --Jim Emerson

Most helpful customer reviews

OK, may be the plot isn't relative and the weaponry a little more state-of-the-art, but the choreography.....better!This violent, shoot-um-up-to-the-max was definitely 'death dancing to it's own rhythm'.I viewed the Superbit DVD, but never having watched either of the previous two DVDs nor the video, I can't make any comparison. I can say the DTS was awesome. The picture quality was excellent. It doesn't get any better than this, especially since the tiny shrinking cinemaplex theaters have made my surround-sound and 32" TV the theater of choice.Sex and guns and music from Los Lobos interwoven with campy humor, Antonio being...well Antonio (ladies, need I say more), with great support from the likes of Steve Buscemi (in one of his best roles I think), Cheech Marin, and the sultry Salma Hayek; what more could you want in an action movie. I found this film far superior to and much more enjoyable than 'Dawn To Dusk'.Now that 'Desperado II - Once Upon A Time in Mexico'is in the works for a 2003 release with the return of Antonio and Salma and the addition of Johnny Depp and Enrique Iglesias, once again under the direction of Robert Rodriguez, we can look foward to finding out just where the loving couple rode off to into the sunset.Seems I repeatedly say these two things:I am not your run-of-the mill young western fan - wrong gender, wrong age, but I enjoyed it anyway;and also reminding those who picked-at the flaws, degraded and jeered at the plot (?), questioned the reality, and just plain didn't get the campiness, to just let yourself go!Don't take yourself and the movies so seriously. Enjoy the humor. Enjoy Antonio or Salma, whichever one sets your pulse-to-racing. Heck, just enjoy the movie!

The Mariachi saga, created by film director Robert Rodriguez, gets more star power, a bigger budget, and is even crazier than the first installment was. Such is Desperado. Actor Carlos Gallardo, who played the anti-hero in the first film, is replaced by Antonio Banderas. Despite the casting change, his adventures contiue as he treks across west, playing his guitar and righting wrongs.The no-named Mariachi (Banderas) tracks down the last Mexican drug-lord "Bucho" (Joaquim de Almeida) with the help of his best friend, and book store owner Carolina (Salma Hayek). The Mariachi takes on his entire army of henchmen in a dusty border town as an act of revenge for the murder of his love and his injured musician's hand. Also starring Cheech Marin as Short Bartender, Steve Buscemi, and even includes a "fine performance" from the great actor (Just Kidding Really) Quentin Tarantino.Desperado is a cross between the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone and the action styles of say John Woo or even Tarantino himself. These characters are put in place, acting as tongue in cheek--wink wink--nods to their genre counterparts. It is clear that the film that Rodriguez has made is all in fun. The action and gunplay is well choreagraphed and exciting to watch. Banderas takes over the role and owns it. Hayek sizzles opposite Banderas and they are great together here As usual though, Buscemi, almost steals the show with his unique style of delivery.The Special Edition DVD version of Desperado boasts another great audio commentary from Rodriguez. The track is lively and informative--but in a relaxed way. The featurette "10 More Minutes with Robert Rodriguez: Anatomy of a Shootout" takes a fun look at how these sequences in the movie get put together.Read more ›

Without a doubt, Desperado is the coolest movie there is. It has everything: style, substance, great characters, amazing soundtrack, and not a single boring part in the movie. There are no sissy "dramatic" moments where there's a long period of silence, there are no confusing back-stories, there are no moments of great character development. No. This is a flat out, pure action-fest.I'm sure you know the story by now, but if not: the movie revolves around the main character- El Mariachi. He's out for revenge against the men who killed his love from the first film. Once he arrives in town, it's non-stop action from there. Not a single scene drags on. More or less, it's a fun action film about people getting shot up, but it's not done over-the-top like some films released that year were. Robert Rodriguez is an incredible guy for getting this movie done in such little time, wich a sickeningly small crew. All the characters are well done and memorable. From Cheech Marin as the bartender, to the thug aptly named "Shrug" (since he gives at least two shrugs in each scene he's in).And my god, you're never going to look at guitar cases the same way.The sound quality is excellent here, though I'm sure it's better on the Super Bit version. The visual quality was (on a scale of one to ten) probably an 8 or so. You can see some grain and "jaggies" in some scenes, but if you're looking for that, then you're watching the movie the wrong way. If you want a movie to show off your 53207" flat screen HD tv and 5.1 DTS whatever they're called sound system(s), then get the Super Bit version. Desperado's full of explosions and gun shots.The special features could've been better, but what we get are pretty nice.Read more ›